In any endeavor, the elimination of waste is a useful objective. When large areas with varying sized elements are to be treated with a substance, it is often difficult to apply adequate, but not too much, amounts of the substance to each of the different sized materials. By way of example only and not by limitation, irrigation systems are used to maintain mature plants or new plants but can not adequately maintain a combination of seedlings and mature plants. The seedlings often do not get sufficient water and/or nutrients in the early stages of growth. Irrigation systems, for example, designed to water large established plants may skim over the top of small seedlings and they can struggle to grow or even die through lack of water and nutrients.
Additionally, the application of nutrients, fertilizer for example, and/or weed killers, by an irrigation system is wasteful in that the fertilizer is applied globally to the entire area thus promoting the growth of weeds and requiring, in a kind of vicious circle, the wide application of weed killers. Obviously, there are legitimate ecological concerns that these excess chemicals, fertilizers and weed killers, are finding their way into ground water systems and polluting the environment.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an apparatus and method for the application of material to objects that reduces waste by reducing the amount of material that is applied and that is simple and easy to use. It, therefore, is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method for the collection of a portion of material from an existing material application system and the direction of the collected material to a selected object that is inexpensive and simple in construction and use and which cuts down on the excessive use of fertilizers and weed killers.